Sharks vs. Leafs pregame: Tomas Hertl likely to play, Zubrus still on first line

Tomas Hertl will likely be back in the lineup Thursday night when the Sharks face the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre.

Hertl, who missed Tuesday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens with a lower body injury, skated on the Sharks’ fourth line Thursday morning with Mike Brown and Matt Nieto. Dainius Zubrus, who scored his first goal of the season Tuesday, remained on the top line with Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton.

Hertl practiced Wednesday and came out of it OK, and barring an afternoon setback, will be back against Toronto.

“I feel way better, and hopefully I’m ready to play tonight,” Hertl said.

Sharks coach Pete DeBoer likes what Zubrus can bring to that top line, saying, “he played a top six role in New Jersey for me for a few years. He’s a big body, he can create room for people. He plays a possession game that Pav and Jumbo want to play. So you hope it works.

“You’re never married to combinations, but they played well last game, created a couple goals. We want the same tonight.”

The Sharks have earned 23 points of their 31 away from home this season, second most in the NHL behind the Dallas Stars (24). They’ve needed every point to stay in a playoff position, as they Edmonton, Arizona, Calgary and Vancouver are all just one point back.

San Jose’s a winning streak away from pulling away from the pack and possibly getting Los Angeles back in it’s sights. The Sharks are also a losing streak away from possibly being in last place.

Make no mistake, this is big game, if only because this is probably the most winnable one for the rest of the road trip.

They Leafs are 5-5-4 at home this season, but they’ve also earned points in seven of their last eight games at Air Canada Center (4-1-3). First-year Leafs coach Mike Babcock seems to have instilled a little more structure in Toronto’s game.

In short, these aren’t quite the same hapless Leafs the Sharks have dominated in recent years, winning nine of 10.

“You can see the identity Mike’s trying to create here,” DeBoer said. “They’re rolling four lines, they’re playing with a lot of possession. Their defense is active. You can see that identity coming out and they’re a dangerous team.”

“We need every point now and it’s a big game for us,” Hertl said. “First game of back to back. We need points because in our division, almost everybody has same amount of points.”

Toronto will start goalie Garret Sparks, who is 3-1 this season with a 2.20 goals against average and a .921 save percentage.

Sharks defenseman Justin Braun did not participate in the morning skate, but DeBoer said Braun is just dealing with something minor and expects him to play tonight.